Monday, November 17, 2008

Is it a good time to buy a house in San Antonio?



Nowad
ays and specially due to the economic crisis we are livng many people are afraid to buy a house. However, if you have a stable income and qualify as a homebuyer, this is actually the best time to buy.

Not convinced? Here are some facts you might be interested in:
  • The $7500 interest free loan (or tax credit like some call it) the government is offering if you buy a house before July 1st, 2009 is a great incentive as you may use it to pay off your high interest credit cards and/or other debts. Better yet, you can use it as your down payment on your home. How? Well if you are saving up for your down payment you can temporarily increase your dependents on your payroll so that you can save up faster. Since you will receive that money ($7500 or less, depending on the price of the house you buy) at tax time you don't have to worry about owing Uncle Sam any money.
  • The interest rate at this time is great! Much lower than it has been in years. Depending on you credit rating it could vary anywhere from 5.35% through 6.75%.
  • You can't expect for house prices to fall any further. Studies show that house prices will most likely go up within the next year or so.
  • Remember that the housing crisis we are currently living is partly because many unqualified buyers were given loans. Therefore, banks and lenders are now stiffening up on their lending policies. They were using 45% income to qualify homebuyers. Now that percent has gone to 31%. So, it's not going to get any easier to qualify for a home loan.
  • Pretty soon they will also require a larger down payment which will only make it harder for someone to buy a house.
  • Most importantly, you want to add to the fact that while in most cities and states the housing market has gone down, San Antonio's has actually gone up; 5.5% in 2007 and between 3% and 4% in 2008.
Therefore, if you want to buy a house, now is the time to go for it. If your credit report isn't excellent you may still qualify at this point but definitely not for long.

If you have any questions about this article please leave me a comment or call me at 210-787-8101. I will be glad to assist you.